‘There were a lot of kids interested in how I could have the confidence to go out looking the way I look.’

And she insisted the visit was educational, explaining: ‘I would tell the parents, “I’m not telling your kid to go off and become a drag queen.”

‘I’m telling them to have the conversations. Because, it will come up in life.’

Jessica L’Whor is seen making her way down the hallway of Rocky Top Middle School last week to give a career’s day reading and talk about bullying. Some parents were annoyed the school did not notify them of the planned appearance (Picture: CBS4)

L’Whor, who is related to a Rocky Top student, insisted her appearance would prove beneficial in encouraging students to think about how they should treat others who are different to them (Picture: CBS4)

Spokesman Joe Ferdani said sorry for failing to flag up L’Whor’s visit, but not for inviting her in the first place, insisting Rocky Top was keen to promote inclusivity and diversity.

He explained: ‘The school’s focus is to have an event that is representative of the diverese backgrounds and careers in the community.’

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Ferdani added: ‘Parents should have known in advance who was going to be speaking, and that didn’t happen in this particular situaiton.

‘Parents just needed to have more info, and context about what was going to be talked about, and some background on this individual, and they weren’t given that information.’